a. Field of Invention
The invention relates generally to the field of stabilizing, anchoring and leveling outdoor free standing structures, such as swing sets, elevated forts, wooden slides, gazebos, sheds, picnic tables, benches and the like. The legs or support structures of these products are subject to and often victims of the ground below them. Exposure includes uneven or sloped ground, ground moisture, weed whacking and mowing damage, rot and other problems. The present invention is a unique reversible support pad that performs numerous functions simultaneously and both protect the outdoor structures and reduce accidents sometime otherwise cause by tilted structures.
b. Description of Related Art
The following patents are representative of the field pertaining to the present invention:
U.S. Pat. No. 8,347,571 B2 to Fehr et al describes a structural column assembly of the type used for erecting building structures and the like that is bedded in a concrete footing formed in situ in an earthen hole. The column assembly includes a post whose bottom end is suspended above a floor of the hole by a stilt. The stilt includes a plurality of legs which extend from the post's bottom end and grip the hole floor through a plurality of cleats. The cleats help stabilize the column assembly during the concrete pour operation so that it does not shift out of position. The stilt legs are provided with a base pad, which is set below the bottom end of the post at a predetermined distance so that the concrete footing can be poured in a single operation immediately after the hole is formed. The stilt can accommodate posts made from wood, pre-cast concrete or any other known construction material. The stilts can be manufactured from formed flat steel or commercially available angle iron and channel stock.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,725,188 to Monteiro, Jr. describes a lawn chair leveling block includes a portable rigid, flat ground-engaging pad designed to support the lawn chair in a level position on a sloped ground surface. The pad is provided with an upstanding elevation block having a deep groove along a top surface, and the groove is designed to cradle a U-shaped leg of the chair. Blind holes positioned in the pad at opposite ends of the elevation block are designed to support individual tubular, vertical chair legs. In addition to being utilized for leveling a lawn chair on a sloped surface, the block prevents a chair leg from sinking into soft soil so as to eliminate the risk of the chair tipping over.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,427,342 to Gagnon describes a support is provided for positioning on the base of a wooden lawn furniture leg. The support has an area that is at least five times the area of the bottom of the leg to distribute the load over a large area. This permits easy sliding of the leg across a lawn. The support is arranged to prevent prolonged contact of the leg with a source of moisture. In addition, the support provides venting to the bottom of the leg to minimize dry-rot.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,141,076 to Joyce et al. describes a device to be used on the legs of standard wooden folding stepladders to insure the stability of said ladders while being used on weak, non-compacted or slippery areas, into which a stepladder might tend to sink, or across which a stepladder might tend to slide. Said device consists of a semi-rigid pad that when attached to the bottom of any or all of the legs of any standard wooden folding stepladder will then increase the stepladder leg footprint area resulting in more stability of said stepladder. In addition, the high friction material of which the stepladder foot pad may be constructed will tend to prevent the stepladder legs from slipping across slippery surfaces.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,915,335 to Miles describes a stabilizer for a lawn chair, sand chair, chaise lounge, as well as other similar chairs, which, in a first embodiment, has an adapter that readily fits over the front and/or rear lower horizontal tubing of the chair-frame, which adapter is provided with right-angled end-corners directly and laterally adjacent the rounded, curved ends of the respective lower horizontal tubing, where such lower horizontal tubing curve upwardly in transition to join with an upwardly, angularly-extending upright tubing of the chair-frame, whereby such curved ends, about which lateral tipping over typically occurs, are negated. In a second embodiment, the stabilizer of the invention snap-fits onto a lower horizontal tubing of the chair-frame, with such stabilizer also having a length greater than the length of the lower horizontal tubing, the ends of which stabilizer are provided with generally triangular-shaped, flat projections. The stabilizer is readily rotatable about the lower horizontal tubing to which is attached, so that the end-projections may be oriented at any desired angle. Thus, the flat end-projections may be oriented so that they lie flat against the ground when the chair is used on firm ground or cement, or may be oriented 90 degrees therefrom so that the pointed apices or corners of each flat end-projection faces toward the ground, which is especially useful when using a chair on soft sand.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,439,961 to Witte describes a leveling and locating or positioning device is disclosed which includes a force-bearing structure which is guided for vertical leveling movement by a vertical reference device which also provides a horizontal position reference. Horizontal movement of a tapered wedge device, which operatively interfaces with a sloped floor member of the force-bearing structure, causes vertical movement of the force-bearing structure and the resulting leveling function. A horizontal extender device, slidably mounted to and supported by the force-bearing structure, provides the horizontal locating or positioning function. A support device is operatively included or mounted to one end of the horizontal extender device and is configured to operatively interface with the member or device which is to be leveled and located or positioned.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,625,462 to Jordan describes the present invention relates to furniture joints and ground-engaging i.e. foot, members of furniture associated with such joints. There is provided a joint in an article of furniture between two interengaging members, the joint having a first part with an H cross section elongated element and a second part including a pair of bosses spaced apart by a distance generally equal to the width of the H central web. These joint parts are a push fit together and are bonded by a heat-treated resin adhesive. A ground-engaging member associated with one part of the joint is so curved that in an unloaded state only the end regions of the curve engage the ground whereas in a loaded state not only the end regions but also at least some intermediate regions engage the ground. There is also provided an improved method of making a part of the joint disclosed.
Notwithstanding the prior art, the present invention is neither taught nor rendered obvious thereby.